


A New Perspective

by brifawn



Category: Teenagers - Fandom
Genre: 3rd person, Coming of Age, First work - Freeform, High School, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Homosexuality, Multi, Multiple Relationships, My First Work in This Fandom, POV Third Person, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-04-15 02:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4589526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brifawn/pseuds/brifawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All his life, Josh knew that deep down he never belonged. He was adopted, but his parents later were able to have two kids of their own. At school he wasn't popular, yet he wasn't nobody. He loved drawing, even when people called him a girl because of it. But most of all, he didn't believe in God even although he lived in middle of North Carolina.</p><p>   When a new student starts at Kennedy High,  Josh find himself slowly becoming friends with him. Unknowingly, the new boy begins to open Josh's eyes to new things he's never noticed before and changes his life forever. Weather Josh is ready to change or not, it's happening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter in this little story thing. I don't really have any true plans for the future. I don't know how often I'll post a new chapter, and I don't know how good the story will be XD.  
> This is the first time I'll be publishing any type of my writing. I figured at this point, I should get some good constructive criticism. And what better place for than the internet?!

The sound of an annoying buzz echoed through Josh’s ears as it awoke him. He flipped over in his bed, pulling his red sheet over his head. His groan slightly blocked out the noise, but it’s no use. He reached his hand out of his warm blanket cocoon and into the open cold air. His hand found its way to the bedside table, then maneuvered to where his alarm clock should be. After fumbling around for a while, Josh’s fingers pushed down on a button, ending the screeching.  


Tearing his bed sheet off his face, Josh craned his head to the left to face the clock; 5:30, it read. As he reached up to his face to wipe away the sleep from his eyes, his feet kicked away the little sheets that were left on his bed. The mattress creaked as Josh rolled off it; he reached up stretching as he stood up. His bare chest caught a draft of cold air, causing him to wrap his arms around his naked torso.  


Josh’s bare feet trudged across the wood floor across his room, to his bathroom. He looked at his sleepy self, reflecting back at him through the mirror. Attempting to tame his wild blond hair was useless, yet he still tried to flatten the strands as he turned to his shower. Giving up on his hair, Josh slipped out of his boxers, and stepped into the shower.

The pipes squeaked as the water was turned off. Reaching around the corner of the marble shower wall, Josh grabbed a dark blue towel and wrapped it around his waist. He shook his short hair, spraying water around the shower. Josh took one final moment before exiting his shower’s warm protective threshold. Puddles trailed his feet as they made their way to the mirror again. After securing his towel to his hips, Josh trailed his hand across the mirror to wipe off the steam. Reflecting back at him, were dull green eyes. Surprisingly, the bags that were there a few days ago, seemed to have disappeared.  


Throughout the summer, Josh was a counselor at a kid’s camp with a few of his other school peers. He had taken the job to make a few extra dollars, and because it seemed fun, it was also a great way to take a few months off his family. It turned out though, his high school let it count as school credit. That’s why most of his peers showed up. Although it was a fun and great experience during the day, night time was a nightmare for Josh. The constant chatter of all his fellow counselors all crammed into a tight wooden cabin made it impossible for him to sleep. After two and a half months of being away, Josh only returned home the day before school started, looking as rugged as ever, bags under the eyes and all.  


The hair atop Josh’s head seemed like it would be okay after a while of futzing with it. Ten minutes later, after having no idea what to wear on his first day of school, Josh managed to slap on a pair of salmon shorts and a long sleeved grey shirt that had 3 black buttons on the neck of it. He pulled the sleeves up to his elbows as he began to lace up his vans. As he moved to his right foot, there was a knock at the door.

“Josh, hurry up,” the voice was coming from behind the door, “breakfast is almost ready,” it called. Josh looked up through his eye lashes to see his little sister Naomi. “Tell mom I’ll be down in a minute,” he called as he finished the bow on his shoe. With a quick nod, Naomi’s bright face left the door way.  
With a sigh, Josh leaned off the end of his bed. Although he would never admit it, he didn’t mind school; in fact, he enjoyed it. But that didn’t mean he liked all the homework or tests. He just enjoyed the whole process of learning new things. The only thing he’d ever learned at home were new ways to praise the Lord, and countless ways to be doomed to Hell.  


He took one last look in the mirror and told himself he looked acceptable. Before leaving his room, Josh slung his backpack over his shoulder. The red bag was still light due to the lack of papers stuffed into it. He also grabbed his car keys and phone off his bedside table. Walking down the hall, he passed a line of family photos. The one closest to his bedroom, at the end of the hall, was when he was only ten. He was in between his mom and dad, who were each carrying babies who looked exactly alike. In the dad’s hands was Josh’s brother Noah, and in the mom’s hands was Josh’s sister Naomi.  


As he passed all the photos, they all looked the same. The family wore plain white clothing with the same church in the background. The only difference in each picture was the aging of the children. Noah and Naomi began to stand on their own, and Josh grew taller, gaining more facial details as well. The last photo in the hall, only taken a couple months ago, still had the plain white clothing and church, but this time, Josh could recognize the teenager standing in the middle. He wore the same goofy smile and green eyes as the man staring at him in the mirror. Although it was no doubt Josh in the picture, it didn’t seem like it.  


After a minute, Josh dragged his attention away from the photo and continued down the hall to the tip of the stairs. He jumped down the stairs two at a time, and check his phone for the time. _Oh God. I’m late,_ he thought as he jumped down the remaining stairs. It was 6:08. 

He threw his backpack next to the door just before skidding into the kitchen. At the table, seated was his two siblings, and his parents. Each wearing a disappointed look. “Sorry I’m late,” Josh started, “I guess I took-" 

“Don’t give excuses,” The stern face of Josh’s father quickly silenced him, “Just take a seat, Son.” Looking down, Josh maneuvered his way to his chair. He quickly took a seat and placed a napkin on his lap. Noah was eagerly staring at the food in front of him, his mouth almost watering. Just as he was about to reach out and take a slice of bacon, his mother spoke up, “Shall we?” She raised her hands from the previous folded position she had them in. She beckoned the rest of the family to do the same. Mr. Martin linked hands with Mrs. Martin and Noah while Josh reached across the table to clasp hands with Naomi’s. He also held his hand out next to him for Noah. As the two twins held their brother’s hands, Mrs. Martin began speaking, “ _Bless O Lord_ ,” as she spoke this first word, Josh watched as all in unison, his family bowed their heads and closed their eyes. “ _this food to our use and us to thy service, and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others. In Jesus' Name_ ,” everyone joined her for the last word, “ _Amen._ ”  


After the grace, Noah launched himself at the bacon, causing the rest of the family to reach for their own food, but more humanly. After a normal Martin family breakfast, filled with small chatter, and a small argument between the twins, Josh stood up, “I should leave soon, if I want to pick up Luke on time.” 

“Alright, honey.” His mother stood up with him, and took his plate from his hands, “Have a good day at school.” Her sweet smile, genuine smile was contagious and caused Josh to smile back. 

“What time is dinner?” The smile on Josh’s face quickly disappeared when his father spoke.

“7 O’clock.” Josh answered.

“Exactly. 7:00. Not 7:08. Don’t be late again.” He had a way of making his words sound like daggers, cutting into your mind. Josh quickly nodded and turned to head for the front door. 

As Josh sat in the driver’s seat of his truck, he let out a deep sigh that carried out all the words he wanted to yell at his father. As he was beginning to feel calmer, he put the keys into the car. As the ignition bursted the car to life, he got a text on his phone:

> _Pick me up @ Sarah’s_  
>  **-L**

“Nice.” Josh breathed out a laugh as he left the driveway of his house. 

He pulled up to a curb in front of a very big brick house. The front door was almost as tall as the first story, and there were grand windows giving a glimpse into the house, where very nice furniture was visible. Josh left the engine idling and honked his horn twice. Moments later a tall, lanky, bald, shirtless teenager crawled out of a basement window. When he saw the old truck in front of the house, he jogged towards it.  
With a click, Josh unlocked the car doors as the boy neared. And with a yank, the boy popped open the car door as he was still sliding on the remainder of his white shirt. He hopped into the car slinging his backpack on his lap.

“Good morning, Luke,” Josh greeted with a smirk.

“Hey dude,” Luke exchanged, “Thanks for picking me up here,” he continued, sounding out of breathe, as he began tying his shoes. 

“Yea. No problem” Josh raised both his eyebrows at him.

“What?”

“Oh nothing,” sang Josh as he pulled the car away from the car. 

After a couple heartbeats of silence, Josh spoke up again, “so…” he started, “How was Sarah’s house?” he questioned with a smirk.  
“It was…” a smile crept across Luke’s face, “good.” He answered. 

“How did you score a sleepover the day before school with the principal’s daughter?” Josh looked over at Luke in the passenger seat. 

“Well. We wanted to spend the last day of summer together.” 

Josh laughed at that, causing Luke to defend himself, “What? There are actually some perks to have a long term girlfriend!”  
“Are you going soft on me??” Josh teased sarcastically. 

“Shut up.” Luke scowled. He slid over to the middle seat and shoved Josh’s shoulder, causing the car to swerve into another lane. Josh corrected the truck as he heard car honks directed at him. 

“Okay Okay!” Laughed Josh. The relationship Luke and Sarah had, Josh admired. The way they each deeply cared for each other wasn’t obvious, but Josh noticed it. The way Luke would always buy her random gifts whenever they ‘reminded him of her’ or the way Sarah would always come the school’s track meets just to cheer Luke on. It was cute. But Josh would never tell Luke that. It was much more fun to mock him for his perfect relationship.  


As the car stalled at a stop light, Luke stroke up another conversation, “How was camp?”

“It was fine. The kids were fun. Oh! And I got a free period because of the credits I earned.” 

“Is that all that happened??” Luke leaned over and poked Josh in the side. Swatting his hands away, Josh replied with a confused look. “Sarah told me Nat was there…” Luke began doing this weird thing with his eye brows. They started wiggling up and down like they had a mind of their own. Josh then just rolled his eyes. “So she was there!” 

“She was,” Josh admitted, “but we were just co-counselors together. That’s it.” 

“You sure?” Luke continued. Josh just shot him a pointed look. “I don’t know man,” Luke’s eyebrows were still dancing, “a handsome dude, and a pretty chick, and nothing happened?” He sat back in his seat, “I just don’t buy it.” Josh rolled his eyes, yet again. But Luke still continued on, “You sure you two didn’t sneak off to a tent in the woods and-” Luke began swiveling his hips additionally to his weird eyebrow movements. It was now Josh’s turn to shove Luke.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah! I updated!!! That never happens! Well to everyone who's reading this... yupp I see you, that 1 person who game me a kudo, I give you another chapter! Enjoy it as much as you can. Remember helpful criticism is all fine with me.

The school looked almost empty when the old truck pulled up. The only cars in parking lot were of teachers and miscellaneous students that were training in the field. Even though it was only 7:00, the sun was up and was already beginning to bake the asphalt on the lot. Knowing that by the end of the day it would reach 100 degrees, Josh parked the car underneath the shade of a giant oak tree. When the vehicle came to a stop, Luke slowly dragged himself out of the car and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He began walking towards the sports field, but stopped when he noticed Josh hadn’t moved from his Truck. “You coming?”  
  
“I don’t want to train today,” Josh groaned from the driver’s seat, “I’m tired,” he said rubbing his hand across his face. Luke just rolled his eyes, “What am I supposed to tell Coach B?”  
  
“That I trained all summer, and that I’m completely ready for the season.”  
  
“Uh-huh. Yea ok. He’ll defiantly let his _star player_ miss practice because he’s tired” Luke quoted with his fingers as he said the last word, with sarcasm drenched throughout whole sentence.  
  
“Come on dude,” Josh pleaded.  
  
“Yea.” Luke turned back around and headed to field.  
  
“Does that mean you’ll tell B?”  
  
“Yea,” Luke repeated with a wave of his hand. “See you at Lunch Josh,” Josh smiled to himself as his friend walked to the practice he was missing.  
  
The summer before sophomore year, Josh found a passion for running. In the three months off of school, he woke up at 5am and went running all through his neighborhood. And at dusk, when it cooled down a bit, he would run throughout the city. He found that he could run in silence and just think. He could be alone for hours at a time. When school started that year, even though he didn’t think he would get in, Josh decided to try out for the track team, along with Luke. Surprisingly, both of the boys made it. As time went on, Josh quickly climbed the ranks on the team. By the end of the year, he already made varsity level and became Coach B’s favorite runner.  
  
Josh’s favorite part of the day when he was a sophomore was the before and after school practice, but towards the end of the year, he didn’t like dealing with all the kids on the team. They were all the snobs from the North part of town. The ones that were too cool for school, and too dumb to care. The stereotypical jocks. Josh loved the game, but just hated the players.  
  
With a deep breath, Josh exited out the door of his truck and started towards the high school. It was only 7:10 so the library wouldn’t be open. Walking towards his school he started to regret wearing a long sleeved t-shirt. The thick, muggy North Carolina air was starting to take its toll. You could do nothing but stand outside, and you would still walk back inside with awkward sweat stains. Trying to find shelter from the humid air, Josh walked to the entrance of the library.  
  
Even though he knew it would be locked, he tugged on the sticky metal door knobs. And sure enough, the doors did not open. With a groan Josh dropped his bag next to the locked entranced and plopped down next to it. He sat facing the parking lot before he reached over to his backpack and pulled out a pencil and an old looking notebook. After turning page after page of sketch filled paper, Josh found a clean page and began drawing.  
  
Josh felt the sense of first day jitters slowly disappear as the silence engulfed him. It was just him and his pencil. The rest of the school was quite, too early for students to be stirring, and too early for teachers to be walking around campus. Without any distractions, Josh was in his own little world. There was no one to bother him. No one to criticize him. Just him and his pencil.  
  
The silence was broken by a car pulling up next to the school. Josh was yanked out of his trance and pulled away from his sketchbook by the loud rumble of the car’s motor. Looking up from his work, Josh saw the passenger door of a big grey jeep open revealing a young teenager. He had a black head of hair and an outfit that consisted of a black t-shirt, with white lettering that easily read _No_ , and tan cargo pants.  
  
The boy closed his door, swung his backpack over his shoulder and was about to walk away when he stopped on his heels, spun around on his dark blue converse, and leaned back into the car through the open window. He was hunched over the car, tapping his foot against the asphalt while the person driving the car was talking to him. After good solid minute, the boy again tried to leave the car, but was stopped by the feminine voice that called from the car, “Do you even know where you’re going??” Hanging his head, the black headed boy again slugged back over to the car and then leaned up against it. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, unwrapped the headphones on it and placed them in his ears. Moments later the boy was off in another world tapping his foot to a beat.  
  
After witnessing what looked like a normal interaction between a mother and a son, Josh just went back to his drawing. He was sure he had never seen the black haired boy before. _‘New student?’_ Josh wondered.  
  
Once again, silence gulped Josh back, pulling him back into the comfort of his notebook. But as if something was forcing his attention away, Josh Paused from his drawing, and looked up from his notebook to see that the boy was staring in his direction. ‘Is he looking at me?’ The boy’s striking blue eyes bore daggers into Josh’s skin. Not knowing whether the boy was staring at him or something else, Josh was hesitant about waving. But something about the way the boy was looking- or not looking- at Josh was friendly (despite the intensity he was creating with just his eyes). The way the boy’s lips were naturally turned up as his head bobbed up down to some non-audible music, and the way his eyes were not icy blue, but the color of a welcoming ocean made Josh smile in his direction. In return, the boy nodded his head, acknowledging Josh’s advancement.  
  
Neither boy could look away from each other until a continuous clopping sound stung into Josh’s ears. Annoyed, Josh was the first to break eye contact with the new student and directed his attention towards the attendance office across the way. Walking from the closing doors of the office was a stout middle aged women. Her brown hair was pinned up onto her head in a way that looked like she wanted to do a good job, but in the end she just crammed a couple bobby pins into it and called it good. By the side of her slacks, her hands were clutching what looked like documents stuffed into a yellow folder. Hurriedly, Mrs. Hill, the principal of Kennedy High, shuffled over to the grey jeep.  
  
The boy followed Josh’s gaze, and saw that the principal was walking over. He immediately plucked his white head phones out of his ears and slung them around his neck. The boy met with the teacher and greeted her with a dimpled smile and a handshake. The principal and the student began conversing, their words not audible to Josh. _‘Defiantly a new student.’_ Was Josh’s last thought before the two started walking over to him.  
  
“… This is the library, it’s where students are welcomed to go before, during and after school.” The principal’s voiced reached to josh, “It normally opens at 7:30 and closes at six.” Her gaze, met with a Josh, and she gave him a cool smile. “Josh!” She exclaimed, pausing from her explanation of the building, “How was your summer?” The teacher walked over to where Josh was stationed, and he stood up to greet her.  
  
“It was good. How was yours?” Josh said this to Mrs. Hill, but as he continued, his eyes wondered over to the new student. There were a couple of features he hadn’t noticed before. The boy’s hair was not black, but a deep chocolate brown. And on the side of his head, the hair was much shorter, as if a couple months ago it had been shaved. It was an odd look, but not unattractive. Josh had never seen anyone like this new student- _‘Holy- Is that a lip piercing??’_ Sure enough, on the right side of the boy’s lip hung a small metallic black ring. It was official. The new kid was weird. Well… maybe not weird. Different. The new kid was defiantly different.  
  
“Oh you know, the same old,” Mrs. Hill continued to talk as Josh was mesmerized by the piece of Jewry on the boy’s face. “I had to work most of it, but it was still fun.” She checked her watched and her eyes bulged out of her head. “Oh dear. Listen, Josh, we should talk later, I should be showing a new student around campus,” She motioned to the chocolate brown haired boy who wasn’t paying attention and was instead looking around the foreign campus. “And then be in a meeting before the first bell rings, so I better get moving”  
  
Josh gave her a kind smile before she began walking away, dragging the new kid along with her.  
  
“Tell your parents I say ‘Hi’!” The principal called to Josh as she rushed away.  
  
“Sure thing Mrs. H.”  
  
When the sound of Mrs. Hill’s clopping heals disappeared, Josh sat back down against the library building and began drawing again. Once again he was left in sweet silence.


	3. Chapter 3

It was 7:45 when the librarian finally showed up. Josh stood up to greet the lady as she wobbled up to the library, “Good morning Mrs. Hobkins.”  
“Oh! Good morning, Jake!” She smiled, her old face wrinkling. The old lady still didn’t remember Josh’s name. Typical.

Mrs. Hobkins took glasses that were hanging around her neck and slid them on the bridge of her nose then stuck a shaky key-holding-hand out to the door of the library and unlocked it. With a click, she heaved the heavy metal door open. Josh hurriedly ran over to the door and held it open for the older lady. “Thank you,” she squeaked as she entered the building. The library was cool inside and smelled like old parchment. It also smelled like old lady, thanks to the 20 years Mrs. Hobkins worked in it.

Josh relaxed once as he was in the library. The moist, humid air was outside and no longer sticking to his skin. Once as they were inside, the librarian hobbled away, leaving Josh standing by the entrance alone. Now that she was inside, Mrs. Hobkins made a ‘B’ line for her desk and sat in her chair, then began furiously typing at her computer, seemingly now oblivious to Josh.

Not even worrying about the way the librarian immediately dismissed him, the teenager walked deeper in the building. Muscle memory guiding him past the stairs to the next floor, and past all the tables, and computers, and study rooms. Going through a maze of book shelves, Josh found himself in the very back of the library. Lastly, the boy turned down one final hall and came to a table surrounded by three walls of books.  
When Josh was a freshmen, he found this place, and soon came to realize that no one else knew that this ‘room’ even existed. Ironically, this section of the library was also the only place biology books are kept. At first Josh only came here because it was the only place in the library that wasn’t infested with upperclassmen, but slowly it became his hangout. It was quite and no one else bothered him. Luke didn’t even know where it was.

Now that Josh was alone once more, he slid his things onto the wooden table in front of him and took a seat. With the privacy of the bookshelf walls, the boy took out his sketch book and resumed drawing.

The library stayed relatively quiet for the morning. It wasn’t until 8:20 that miscellaneous teenage voices carried their way to Josh’s ears. Despite the audible crowds of teenagers in the building, Josh had no fear of being disturbed, and continued minding his own business.

When the first morning bell rang at 8:30, Josh quickly packed up his notebook and pencils, then walked across the high school campus to his home room, where he would finally get his class schedule. While walking, he met up with his friends and began the normal discussion of what each person did over the summer.

“I completed the whole Halo series for the fourth time!”

“I worked at Target the whole time.”

“I got to third base with Stacy!”

“I got a dog.”

“Josh and I worked at that old camp as counselors.”

A smile slowly crept over Josh’s face as the senseless chatter of his friends filled his ears. He was happy to back in the real world.

The day carried on normally. In his home room, Josh got his schedule that told what each of his periods were and what classrooms they were held in. He was even lucky enough to get his free period in the last slot of the day. Since there was no actually teaching involved in any of the classes on the first day, just introductions, all the classes passed by Josh in a blur. Before he knew it, the bell signifying lunch had rang and he was already in the sea of kids waiting for food in the overly crowded lunch lines.

After collecting his alien-looking ‘food’, he made his way over a group of familiar faces. Sitting at large wooden lunch table was Luke and the rest of Josh’s friends. Slapping his lunch tray on the table, Josh then slid onto the bench, taking a seat next to Luke.

“So what classes did you get?” Luke managed to stay with a mouthful of cheeseburger as Josh sat down.

“I got all the necessary classes in the morning, and my last period is free.” Josh responded while taking a neatly folded piece of paper out of his pocket. He gave it to Luke to look over. As his eyes skimmed over Josh’s schedule, Luke’s lips mouthed the words.

“Necessary classes?” Luke looked up from the page, “you’re in AP lit and honors calc! How are those normal ‘necessary classes’??” He shook his head and muttered, “Freakin’ smart people…” Josh let out a chuckle.

Out of nowhere, Luke turned back to the sea of children. Josh followed his gaze and saw two pretty girls emerge from the crowed. They both let out soft smiles when they saw the two boys looking in their direction. When they reached the table, the taller brunette leaned down to Luke and gave him a peck on the lips before taking the other seat next to him.

While Sarah had her light brown hair tied up in a sloppy bun, and was wearing a solid black t-shirt with denim jeans and flip flops, her best friend, who was about to sit directly across from Josh, was wearing a bright yellow dress that hugged her in all the right places that showed off all of her curves, and directed all attention to her chest. Her blond curls bounced as she sat down. She looked like she spent hours creating the perfect ‘first day of school outfit’.

 

“Hey Natalie,” Josh greeted with a kind smile.

“Hey!” She responded with her syrupy sweet voice, “How did you sleep last night? I didn’t get home until 2:00am, how about you?”

“I got home around 1:00. But I slept like a baby,” Josh laughed

“Yea, me too,” Natalie chirped. After a short paused she continued, “Hey, listen, I had a really fun time with you this summer, and I was wondering-”

“Dude!” Luke interrupted Natalie and begun shoving Josh’s shoulder in excitement. “Dude. Dude. Dude. Dude-”

“What!” Josh snapped at Luke, sending an apologetic gaze at Natalie.

“You want to go to a party tonight at 7:00?” Luke asked eagerly, his blonde eyebrows turning up in excitement.

Josh just sighed, “I can’t that’s when I have dinner, you know that.” Immediately Josh felt guilty for the way Luke’s bright blue eyes dimmed. All his excitement diminishing, knowing how the next couple words would play out. 

“Just tell your dad you’re helping with homework.”

“I can’t. I already got in trouble this morning for being late to breakfast. He’ll skin me alive if I miss another meal. Plus, I have homework,” Josh lied.

“It’s the first day of school,” Luke bargained.

“AP lit and honors calc,” Josh reminded. Luke groaned at that response and shrugged against Sarah. This was the normal routine. Luke would find the coolest parties to go to, or manage to get invited to some of the biggest high school events, his social skills getting him to know almost everyone in the school, he would then always invite Josh, then Josh always gave an excuse: Too much homework, family gatherings, didn’t get the text, watching the twins, the list goes on. You would think at some point Luke would stop asking. But no. Every time something came up, Josh was the first person he would come to.

Josh has nothing against going places with Luke, in fact, Luke and Josh were pretty much inseparable since the third grade. Luke even practically lived at the Martin household. The problems were always who else was going to be at the parties. Lucky with his likable, innocent charm, Luke didn’t have many problems with people. On the other hand, the few times Josh had actually followed up on one of his friend’s plans, his closed-off personality managed to get him shoved into a corner, forced between making-out couples and a wall.

“Fine.” Luke rolled his eyes, not all that surprised by the outcome of the conversation.

After Luke’s statement, laughter erupted from the other end of the table, “No, I’m serious! I totally got to third base with Stacy! I touched her boobs and everything!” One of Josh’s friends, Nate, was trying to convince the rest of his friends of his ‘accomplishments’.

“Nate, boobs are only second base,” Joey, a small red-headed teen, piped up as he threw a french fry at poor Nate. Another burst of laughter flared up from the surrounding kids at Joey’s comment, surprised that the tiny, little, freckled man knew anything about ‘the game of baseball’.

As the whole lunch table seemed to be distracted with teasing Nate, Luke took the time to lean into Josh’s ear. In a drained, weak tone, completely different from the previous giddy, confident one, the lanky boy asked, “Can you leave your window open tonight… I don’t think I’ll be able to go home that late.” As soon as Luke finished his request, his eyes skirted around Josh’s. Without hesitation, Josh hooked his arm around his friend’s neck and pulled him close. “Always,” was all he said.

**Author's Note:**

> No characters in this are meant to resemble anyone, neither are any of the places. If there do happen to be resemblances, it's mere coincidence.


End file.
